


I Only See You

by Oceanscribbles



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Battle, Damn it Keith, I don't want to spoil anything just yet, I promise, I'll tag more as it happens, I'm so sorry, Injury, Just intense scenes, Keith doesn't listen to anybody, M/M, My poor sons, Not really gore just lots of blood, Sorry Not Sorry, Why don't you listen, You Just Don't Know It Yet, i can't wait, it's going to be super cute, klance, klangst, mother hen Lance, not really violence, not too much anyways, there will be Klance, warning: there's blood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-16
Updated: 2017-08-02
Packaged: 2018-12-02 19:06:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11515554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oceanscribbles/pseuds/Oceanscribbles
Summary: When Keith is severely injured during a battle against one of Zarkon's fleets, he may not be able to come back from it. With help from Lance, he tries his best to adjust and get better, but things just seem to be getting worse. Will he ever be the same again? Will he be able to continue piloting Red? Will he ever get any peace and quiet again with Lance constantly around? So many questions are running through his head, but worst of all, what are these new feelings he's developing towards the blue paladin?





	1. Slow Motion

**Author's Note:**

> This work is dedicated to someone very close to me who is going through a very hard time in his life. I’m thinking of you. Stay strong, you’ll pull through this. I know you can. Fight with all you’ve got, fuzzy little man-peach ;). Even if the worst happens, I'll always be there for you.
> 
> Hi guys! So, this is only my second fic, and I already feel a lot better about it than my first (which I am still planning on adding to/working on). I'm actually really excited about this fic! I got my inspiration, as you probably guessed, from something that is happening in my life right now that is really impacting me. Writing has always been a good way for me to release my emotions, so here I am, and here this is.
> 
> THERE WILL BE MORE CHAPTERS! (I couldn't possibly leave my son like that) I have a really great plot planned out for this, and it may not seem like it now, but there will be Klance. And fluff. Lots of fluff. Maybe. I'm giving too much away. But yeah. I only have this first chapter done, and I already feel a little better about my situation, so I'm definitely continuing this fic.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it! Sorry for rambling, but again, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE give me some feedback! I want to hear it! It can only help me get better. :)

Bright streaks and flashes of purple lights lit up the empty vacuum of space. Compared to the dim glow of far-off stars, these lights were blindingly bright. Lance would almost compare them to fireworks, except these lights were trying to KILL THEM. One of Zarkon’s offensive fleets had come across the castle of lions and began their attack immediately. The paladins, along with Allura, Coran, and the mice, had all been sleeping when the flashing red lights and unbelievably loud echo of the castle’s emergency alarms had gone off. Everyone had gotten to their lions as quickly as they could while Allura had put the particle barrier up around the castle. They were all exhausted. And now, not even 15 ticks after being startled awake, they were fighting the enemy fleet. 

Lance yawned, trying to make it quiet enough that the other paladins wouldn’t hear through the communication lines in all of their helmets. The Galra fleet they were combating comprised of 4 large battle cruisers, 2 smaller cruisers, and of course, the thousands of fighter drones that came along with each cruiser. Things had started off pretty hairy, since the paladins were still groggy from being woken so suddenly.

Pidge had been surrounded at one point by 2 of the large battle cruisers, and she had been boxed in by the multitude of drones. Shiro and Keith had come to her rescue, Shiro using his jaw blades to take out one of the cruisers while Keith took out the other cruiser using all the firepower he had.

Hunk, of course had been chased by an unsettlingly large flock of drones. Lance had come up behind them and ice blasted them, proceeding to fly straight into them, which had the frozen Galra drones shattering into thousands of pieces of shiny, icy fragments.

Now, there was only 1 large battle cruiser and the occasional fighter drone left. The fight was almost over. They’d all get to go back to sleep soon, Lance hoped. He was jerked from his thoughts as Blue was battered by a spinning cloud of metal debris. He maneuvered her out of harms’ way and mentally kicked himself. Now was not the time to lose focus. They needed to end this fight. 

“Drones coming up on your left, Lance” Pidge’s tired voice crackled through the comms. He immediately spun Blue towards the approaching Galra ships, and easily took them out with a single blast from Blue’s tail.

“Easy-peasy Pidge. Thanks for the heads up.” 

“Guys, we need your help now, get over here.” Shiro sounded hoarse. “Keith and I need you all to distract the drones so we can take out the ion cannon on the cruiser.”

“Copy that” everyone replied in unison. Hunk, Pidge, and Lance sped over to the underside of the cruiser, taking out stray drones as they went, to where they found the red and black lions struggling to decapitate the ion cannon while a swarm of drones surrounded them. They were being bombarded.

“Keith, I can handle this, you help the others distract the drones.”

“But-“ Keith was cut off.

“Now. I’ve got this.” Shiro growled. 

“Yes sir.” Lance rolled his eyes. Keith was always trying to make himself look cool. _Who does he think he is?_ Lance thought as he took out several fighters with one shot. The red lion sped away from the underside of the cruiser, and several drones split from the group to follow after him like fangirls chasing down their favorite movie star. They were hot on his trail. But not for long. The red lion was the fastest, and Keith put his special skill to good use, rocketing ahead and leaving the drones in his space dust. (ha, get it?) He spun around quickly, taking the drones by surprise, and destroyed them all with a hot blast from Red’s tail.

Pidge and Lance hovered near the cruiser, covering Shiro as he worked, while Hunk split and sped off, eight drones following him. “OH NO. GUYS! HELP!” 

“Pidge, can you cover Shiro?” Lance groaned. _Hunk, you big cry baby._

“I’ve got him, most of the drones are gone, go help Hunk. Sounds like he needs it.” She snickered.

“Okay girl, let’s go save Hunk.” Lance patted his controls as he turned Blue and shot off into the direction Hunk had gone. Blue rumbled back, almost like an amused purr. “I’m coming for you buddy, just hold tight.”

“HURRY!” a muffled groaning sound came through the comms. Hunk had thrown up. _Typical._ Lance quickly caught up to the slower yellow lion. It was surrounded by the drones, and they were firing on Hunk from all directions. The yellow lion was too slow to target them, and by time it fired, the drones would dart out of the way. Lance swooped in and easily took out 4 of the drones. He was getting ready to brag through the comms about that smooth move he had just made when suddenly…

**BANG**

Lance nearly had a heart attack as a bright red laser beam narrowly missed Blue and took out a single drone. “HEY! Keith, you airhead, I had that one! Go find your own fight! Rescuing Hunk is my job.” 

“You weren’t paying attention, Lance. That one nearly got you.” Keith said flatly.

“Whatever mullet. Buzz off.” Lance glanced back in the direction of the cruiser. It looked like Shiro was having trouble taking out the cannon. Pidge, meanwhile, had moved on to start attacking the sides of the cruiser, leaving a trail of small explosions in her wake. 

“Thanks guys, I really thought I was finished for a minute there.” Hunk sounded relieved. 

“GUYS! WE NEED YOU NOW! This thing is almost finished!” The red, blue, and yellow lions all turned as their leader called to them. 

“We’re on our way Shi-” The red lion turned sharply, flying in the opposite direction. 

“Where do you think you’re going? That’s the wrong way, genius.” Lance yelled, confused as to why Keith wasn’t listening to Shiro. _Then again, what’s new? Keith doesn’t listen to anybody._

“Hold up. Lance, Hunk, you go on. Theres a few stray drones trying to escape. I need to take care of them quick.” 

“Whatever, let’s go Hunk.” The blue and yellow lions hesitated before taking off towards the cruiser to help Shiro and Pidge. 

“TEAM……. GE… OUT OF HERE TH………. N CANNON IS ABOU……. I THINK ITS HAVING A MELTDOW……..” Shiro’s voice was panicked, and Lance didn’t catch half of what he had said. The comm lines were suddenly buzzing with static. 

“Shiro? Can you repeat that?” the yellow lion had stopped. Lance slowed Blue, but didn’t stop his approach to the cruiser. “Shiro? What’s going on?”

“Uh, Lance, I think he wants us to get out of there.” Hunk squeaked as the green and black lions suddenly blew past them.

“The ion cannon is having some sort of meltdown, we need to get out of range now, unless you want to be killed.” The static had gone, and Lance clearly heard Pidge. Blue jolted. 

“Girl? You okay? What was that?” Lance was in the process of turning Blue around to follow after Pidge and Shiro when the lights on his control panel flickered, his energy sensors suddenly spiking then going dark. 

“That was a shockwave, we need to get farther away NOW.” Lance flinched. Shiro had yelled so loud his eardrums were ringing. And that’s when everything changed.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. A bright pinpoint of purple light came from the Galra ship. The red lion, blew past him, rocketing after a single drone that was headed back towards the cruiser. A deafening boom rattled Blue, who immediately sent a panicked rumble through Lance’s mind. The pinpoint of light suddenly expanded outward in all directions. It was blinding. It was almost like a supernova. 

“AGH” Everyone heard the terrified exclamation over the comms.

“KEITH!” Lance screamed. The red lion disappeared in the quickly expanding ball of purple energy. Lance had no choice but to turn on all booster rockets and get Blue out of there before he too, was consumed. “KEITH?” there was only static.  


###### 

They had found the red lion drifting through space amongst the wreckage. It was badly damaged. All of the lights were out, and there were big gashes along her midsection where Red had been hit by shrapnel.

Red bumped into a large piece of metal debris, turning her around.

“Oh no.” Lance’s heart dropped. There was a great, gaping hole in side of Red’s head just below her ear. The cockpit had been breached. Keith was not inside.


	2. Breached

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SURPRISE! I know I said it would be around a week before Chapter 2 was up, but hey. Not being able to sleep is a magical thing. Plus it's a shorter chapter.
> 
> N, you continue to inspire me with how strong you're being through all of this. Keep you head up. I know you'll be okay. Everything will work out, even if it's not in the way you want it to. 
> 
> Anyways, enjoy!

One last drone. One LAST drone. One. That’s all that was left. He had to get it. Even destroying this one drone would help weaken the Galra Empire. He HAD to get it.

Keith had zoned out. He was hyper-focused on the task he had assigned himself. Get. That. Drone. He heard voices in his helmet, his teammates chattering on the comms, but he didn’t listen. He didn’t hear words. He didn’t hear warnings. He pursued the drone, firing at it, but missing by a hairs width each time. _Damn these things are fast_ , he thought to himself, taking aim again. The drone seemed to be high-tailing it back to the large battle cruiser. He followed. _Yeah, that’s right. You better run._ Keith was about to fire another shot at the drone when Red’s control panel suddenly began flickering wildly. 

“…… NOW.” Someone, probably Shiro, had yelled so loud, it snapped Keith out of his focused state of mind long enough for him to realize something was wrong. The green and black lions were nowhere near the Galra cruiser any more. Come to think of it, _none_ of the lions were anywhere near the ship anymore. He turned Red just enough to see the four other lions rocketing away.

“What the-“ Red was sending urgent vibrations straight into his mind. He was trying to figure out what she was trying to tell him but… It was almost as if someone had set off a nuclear warhead right next to his lion. The impossibly loud noise drowned out whatever Red had been trying to tell him. His ears were ringing.

“KEITH!” He faintly registered someone calling his name. 

Seemingly out of nowhere, a bright, bright faintly purple light surrounded him. It was blinding. It was all he could see. It was as if he was stuck in the middle of a really bad, purple blizzard. His eyes began to burn, it was so bright. He covered his face with his hands. A violent **THUD** startled him, and the red lion was suddenly sent into an uncontrolled spin. “AGH” Keith started screaming. If not for his safety belt, he would have been thrown around the cockpit like a ragdoll. He would have been toast. 

It was hot. It was so hot. He felt like he was locked in a sauna, and it was only getting worse. All this spinning was starting to make him feel queasy. He wanted this to end. Why wasn’t it stopping? It was as if time was moving at a fraction of the rate it usually did. And then he heard it. The sickening sound of metal bending and tearing. The noise was eerie… _unnatural_. It was grating his ears. He just wanted it to stop. _Why isn’t it stopping?_ He screamed again. He could barely hear himself anymore. His throat was going raw. He kept screaming.

The bright light faded as quickly as it had appeared, leaving Keith in the darkness of space once more. 

Red. He was seeing red. At least he thought he was. The abrupt transition from blinding brightness to complete darkness had left no time for Keith’s eyes to adjust. He was seeing spots. Colorful spots everywhere. He clenched his eyes shut and shook his head. Blinking a few times, his vision began to return to normal. The red lion’s cockpit was filled with flashing red warning lights. Keith tried his controls. He needed to stop this spinning, or he was going to pass out. Red’s controls were not responding. None of his systems were online.

“G-Guys?” the edges of his vision were beginning to go dark. He shook his head and blinked it away. His comms weren’t working either. He only got static in reply. Metal creaked and groaned around him. 

**CRASH**

The red lion must have collided with something. It had stopped spinning. _Finally. Thank goodness._ Keith’s mind was reeling. He was disoriented. The sharp sound of shattering glass sounded somewhere in the cockpit. Keith looked around. 

**TICK TICK TICK TICK**

It sounded like he was caught in a hail storm. Red was being battered by shrapnel from the now, nonexistent Galra battle cruiser. Red jolted again. He had hit something. Something big. Without warning, a large pointed fragment of metal breached the cockpit, narrowly missing Keith. As soon as it had pierced Red’s hull, it was gone again, leaving a gaping hole to his left. Keith was jerked sideways in his pilots’ seat. It was as if he were in an airlock. Something snapped. Keith’s safety belt, the only thing keeping him inside Red at this point, gave way. He was sucked violently out into space. He imagined this is what it would feel like to be flushed down a toilet.

Activating the jetpack on his paladin suit, he steadied himself, and was able to get a visual on Red. She was badly damaged. If Red had been a car, Keith would have said she was totaled, but hopefully, Coran would be able to repair her. _Shit._ The red lion and its paladin were floating aimlessly through a debris field of shrapnel and large fragments from the Galra ships. _This is bad, he thought to himself. Ok, I need to come up with a plan. How am I going t-_

**WHOOSH**

Something hurtled past Keith at a frightening speed, interrupting his train of thought. _Oh no._ Looking up, he saw a cluster of debris coming right at him. Maneuvering with his jetpack wouldn’t do him any good. He was in trouble. 

**THWACK**

A large, flat piece of metal, probably from the outer hull of a ship, collided with Keith. Everything went **black.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate putting my boy in situations like this. I'm crying on the inside right now. I HOPE HE'S OKAY! 
> 
> Guess we'll find out soon! ;)


	3. The Hall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The paladins recovered Keith's body from space, along with the badly damaged red lion. He needs to get into a healing pod. Desperately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I got this chapter up sooner than I thought I would! I know things are moving really slowly right now, but soon enough, things will pick up and there will be lots of bonding moments between our boys. *cough* klance *cough* I just have a really specific storyline that I'm following, and since my chapters are fairly short, it's taking a little longer than I would have liked to get things moving. But fear not, ITS IS COMING. And I can't wait!
> 
> ANYWAYS, I'm not sure I'm really happy with how this chapter turned out, but here it is! I have quite the busy week ahead of me, but I'm still finding time to work on bits and pieces of this fic! Once this week is over, hopefully I'll be able to post the chapters more frequently than I have been.
> 
> I hope you love it! Let me know what you think!

“We need to get him in a healing pod right away.” The paladins had returned to the castle with the battered red lion in tow as fast as they could. Allura was running alongside Keith, who was being carried by Hunk and Shiro. His body was limp. He looked… dead. Lance gulped. He never thought he’d see Keith like this. It was shocking. For once, he had nothing to say. His mouth was dry.

They had found Keith drifting aimlessly through space, not far off from where they found the red lion. They really had thought he was dead at first. His paladin suit was caked with blood. His helmet was shaded, so nobody could see Keith’s face, and a single piece of shrapnel was sticking out of the front left side. It was a miracle his helmet had stayed sealed around the metal enough to provide Keith with oxygen while he had been out in space. He was a mess, to say the least. 

“Do you think he’s going to be okay?” Pidge squeaked, running to keep up with everyone.

“Is he even breathing?” Shiro grunted, struggling to carry Keith’s feet and walk as fast as he could at the same time. It was hard to tell while he was being carried, but Keith’s chest was rising and falling shallowly. _For now he is_ , Lance thought solemnly. 

“There’s s-so much blood...” Hunk looked like he was about to vomit. He was holding Keith up under his arms. 

Lance wanted to say something. He couldn’t. He didn’t know what to say. He just ran along with everyone, staring at Keith in disbelief. Everyone’s voices sounded strange. Almost like he was stuck at the bottom of a very deep well, and they were calling down to him… echoing. He still couldn’t believe this was happening. _Is he really going to be okay?_ Everyone rushed through the doors into the medical bay. 

“Hunk, Shiro, place him on the table there.” Coran rasped, directing them with a simple motion of his hand.

“I thought he needed to go into a pod?” Shiro sounded confused. Keith was placed on the tabletop. His head lulled to the side. 

“We need to remove his armor and his helmet first. Give me a hand. Be gentle about it, now.” Coran began to remove Keith’s helmet, but it seemed to be stuck. “Quiznak.” 

“Whats wrong?” Shiro questioned as he removed Keith’s chest plate. Hunk removed the armor from his legs, placing it on the ground.

“This metal… It… It’s not just embedded in his helmet. It goes deeper. I think it may have got him in the face. We need to remove it before we can get his helmet off. Allura, get me my tools.” Coran began inspecting the metal shard, pulling gently on it and testing it. Allura hurried off and came back with a small fabric bag. Coran dug around in it and pulled out a pair of large forceps. “You all may want to clear out of here for a bit, paladins. This is not going to be pretty.”

Lance went pale as a ghost. He wanted to help, but he couldn’t be here for this. He had to leave, but his legs weren’t moving.

“Yup. Yes. Good idea Coran.” Hunk spun quickly, about to exit the medical bay. He paused when he noticed Lance. “Hey, you okay buddy?”

“K-Keith is….” Hunk grabbed him by the shoulders and led him out of the room. Pidge and Shiro followed quickly.

“Keith will be okay. Hopefully.” Hunk tried to sound reassuring.

The doors to the medical bay slid shut behind the four paladins. Nobody knew what to say. They were all worried about Keith. Shiro was trying to calm Pidge down, Hunk was fidgeting his fingers, and Lance just leaned against the wall. He slid down to rest on the floor. 

“AHHHHHHH”

A shrill scream sounded from the other side of the door. It was Keith. Everyone flinched. Lance covered his ears, trying not to think about what was happening in the next room. It was obvious Coran had extracted the metal, or was at least trying to.

“No, no no no…. NO PLEASE.” Hunk and Pidge rushed away without saying anything, unable to bear hearing any more. Whatever Coran had done, it must have brought Keith out of his unconscious state. Muffled pleading and broken sobs echoed into the hallway. Lance was frozen where he was on the floor. He looked over to where Shiro stood. The black paladin was bracing himself against the wall with his forearms, forehead resting on one of them. He looked uncomfortable. “NO STOP PLEASE.” Shiro groaned and glanced at Lance, eyes full of concern.

“Lance we should go. We need to get out of our paladin suits. You need some rest. We all do.” He walked over to stand in front of Lance, offering his hand to help him up off the ground. Lance just shook his head. 

“I… I can’t…” he looked up at Shiro, eyes wide, then drew his eyes back to the wall in front of him. 

“Lance. Come on.” Shiro said a little more firmly. When Lance didn’t reply, he grabbed him by the wrist to try and tug him up gently.

“NO. Shiro, I can’t. Just… Just go. I need to stay here.” He jerked his arm out of Shiro’s grasp. The black paladin seemed surprised by Lance’s reaction. Instead of saying anything else, Shiro simply gave Lance a small apologetic smile and turned to leave. After a few steps, he looked over his shoulder. “He’ll be fine once Coran gets him into a healing pod. See you tomorrow, Lance.” And with that, Shiro disappeared down the hall, probably headed to his room.

Lance was alone in the hall. He could still hear muffled whimpers coming from the medical bay. _I should have stopped Keith. I should have noticed he wasn’t listening to Shiro and Pidge’s warnings. If I had been paying attention, I could have prevented this._ He pushed his fingers through his hair, resting his head in his hands and staring at the floor. _This is my fault. I shouldn’t have let him go off on his own to get those drones. It’s **my** fault._ No more sounds came from the medical bay. Maybe they had gotten Keith into a pod?

Something hit the floor between Lance’s legs. It was wet. When had he started crying? _Great._ He wiped his eyes, taking a deep, shuddering breath. _If Keith saw me now, I’d never hear the end of it._ He smiled a little, thinking about how the red paladin would react to seeing him like this. How would he react…? _He’d probably be super awkward about it. “There, there.”_ He imagined Keith squatting next to him, a stiff arm robotically patting him on the shoulder. He laughed quietly, wiping his eyes again and sniffled. Keith would be okay. Those healing pods worked miracles, he knew from experience. 

**BZZZZ**

The mechanical hum of the doors sliding open startled Lance. He wiped his eyes once more, for good measure, and looked up to see who it was. His mouth dropped open. Allura had come out of the medical bay. The front of her suit was splattered with blood. She looked like an overly excited toddler with red finger paint had attacked her. It was horrifying. She wiped her hands on her legs and looked around the hallways before crouching down in front of Lance.

“I know this looks bad, but he’s going to live.” Putting a reassuring hand on Lance’s shoulder, she squeezed gently.

“He’s going to live…?” Lance repeated her words, trying to understand what she had said. His mind was clouded with exhaustion from the battle.

“Yes, Lance. The others have gone to bed, I’m assuming?” Lance nodded in response, still processing the news.

“Wait. He’s going to live, but is he going to be _okay_?” Something flashed across Allura’s face only for a split second before she forced a small smile.

“Of course. Why don’t you go get cleaned up and get some rest? We’ll discuss what happened tomorrow at breakfast.” She pulled Lance up to his feet and nudged him in the direction of his room. He stopped, narrowing his eyes. He turned on his heels, heading towards the entrance to the medical bay.

“I-I want to see him. I need to see that he’s okay.” Allura put a hand on his chest, stopping him. 

“That’s not a good idea right now. Coran is trying to clean up, and Keith’s wounds haven’t had any time to heal yet. He just got in the pod. It’s not something he would want you to see. He’ll need to stay in there for at least a full day.” 

**BZZZZ**

The doors slid open once more, and Coran poked his head out. “Allura, I need you to have his suit cleaned.” He dumped Keith’s paladin suit into Allura’s arms. Something dripped out of it onto the floor. It was blood. Lance looked past them into the room and saw what looked like a crime scene. There was so much blood. “No need to worry, Lance. He’s in the pod, and the healing process has begun. Off to bed you go! You can see him in the morning.” And with that, the doors slid shut, leaving Lance and Allura in the hall.

“Good work out there today. Try to get some sleep.” She gave Lance one more small smile before she rushed away, carrying the dripping red suit. Lance, now alone in the hall, took one more look at the doors leading to the medical bay, and slowly started shuffling back to his room. _Please be okay…_

After about 15 minutes, Lance arrived back in his room. He stripped off his paladin suit, took a quick shower, and went straight to bed, not even bothering to do his nightly skincare routine. He was too tired. He was too worried.

He lay there in the dark, staring at the ceiling unable to sleep. The horrible sounds of Keith’s pleading screams echoed through his head. 

_**This was my fault.** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. I guess we still don't know the full extent of Keith's injuries. I HOPE HE'S OKAY! My poor son. Why am I doing this to him? I feel awful. :(
> 
> If you have any comments or suggestions, I'd love to hear them! THANK YOU ALL FOR READING YOU'RE AWESOME! I know I don't have many hits or kudos, but every one make me feel so special. Thank you for taking the time to read my stuff. Stay cool ya'll :)


	4. Sleepless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance can't sleep. He _has_ to see Keith for himself to put his mind at ease, so he goes to check on him late at night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. This was the first day I had any free time in a long time, AND LOOK WHAT I DID WITH IT!
> 
> I banged another chapter out! I'm so happy with myself right now! :D
> 
> This chapter is a bit longer than the others, so bear with it. I'm not sure how I feel about this one yet, but I hope you enjoy it! *coughs* KLANCE *coughs* FINALLY. 
> 
> Ahem. Please, enjoy! I'll have Chapter 5 up as soon as I can!
> 
> P.S. Leave me comments! Let me know what you think! YOUR COMMENTS FUEL MY WRITING FIRE AND HELP ME GET CHAPTERS UP FASTER! Thanks for being awesome!

Lance hadn’t gotten any sleep at all. How could he sleep? It was probably only around 4 in the morning, Lance assumed, since the castle’s lights were on night mode. His room was dark. He sat up, throwing his blankets aside. Rubbing his face, he groaned. His eyes were heavy, it was difficult to keep them open, but he still wasn’t able to sleep. Every time his eyes would close, he’d see visions of the red lion disappearing into the purple explosion of light playing over and over on the backs of his eyelids. It made his breath catch in his throat.

Swinging his legs over the edge of his bed, he searched the cold floor for his blue lion slippers. The ones he knew everyone else was jealous of. Who wouldn’t be? He pushed himself up to stand, wobbling slightly. He was absolutely exhausted, but that didn’t matter. All he could think of was Keith. _Keith._

 _I need to go see him. I need to make sure he’s alive._ He didn’t care what Allura and Coran had told him. He wanted to check on Keith himself. Maybe once he saw Keith he’d be able to get some sleep.

Shuffling to his desk, he grabbed his favorite jacket and slung it over his shoulders. The castle got cold at night, and his blue pajamas were not warm enough to walk around in alone. Feeling his way along his bedroom wall in the dark, he found the control panel. With the press of a button, his door unlocked and slid open. A dim aqua glow came from the hallway, and he stepped out, shivering at the drop in temperature. The soft blue lights in the hallway were just bright enough for him to see where he was going without running into any walls.

 **BZZZZ**

Lance squeaked in surprise. He whipped around, rolling his eyes when he realized it had been his own door closing behind him. _How lame was that._ Looking around to make sure he hadn’t woken any of the other paladins, he started the long walk to the medical bay. The castle was huge. It was much bigger than he had thought it was. He had probably only explored 40% of the interior since they had first become paladins of Voltron. 

15 minutes later, he arrived in the hall outside of the medical bay. He paused in front of the door, Keith’s screams echoing through his head once more. The color drained from his face. Did he really want to see the state Keith was in right now? Allura had said Keith would need almost a full day for his wounds to heal up, and it had only been 3 hours…

Shaking his head, he pressed the control panel on the wall, opening the doors before he could stop himself. It was dark in the bay except for the bright blue glow coming from one of the healing pods on the far end of the room. Lance hesitated before approaching.

As he got closer, he could see just how banged up Keith really was. Wearing only a pair of tight white pants, his whole torso and upper body were exposed. He was covered in small cuts, and the left side of his body showed signs of internal bleeding. A nasty purple bruise had blossomed over his ribs. _Shit, he must have punctured a lung._ Lance wasn’t surprised. After being sucked into space, he had probably been hit by all kinds of debris from the battle. Lance pressed his hands up against the glass. He drew his eyes up Keith’s body, inspecting every little wound. He got to Keith’s face.

Lance gasped. He had known a metal shard had punctured his helmet, but he didn’t think it had done as much damage as it had. Keith’s left eye was covered with a large white bandage, but sticking out from under it, Lance could see a large cut. It went through his eyebrow, disappeared behind the bandage, and came out underneath, stretching all the way down to his jawbone. Lance felt the telltale prickle of tears forming in the corners of his eyes. _Damn it._

“Oh god, Keith, buddy, I don’t know if you can hear me, but I am so sorry…” Lance shivered, pulling his jacket tighter around himself. He sat down on the ground in front of Keith’s pod. “I should have done something. Why do you always have to try to be the hero? Don’t you know heroes always die?” He wiped his nose and leaned his forehead against the glass. “You better be okay. If you die, I’ll kill you.” Lance snorted to himself. “Well, I mean, I can’t kill you if you’re dead, but you know what I mean…” 

He felt stupid. _I’m just sitting here talking to myself. If I saw anyone else doing this, I’d think they were crazy._ But then again, who knew. He’d heard rumors of people in comas being able to hear things. Even though he didn’t remember hearing anything when he had been in a pod way back when, he shrugged and continued.

“When you disappeared into the explosion, we all thought you were a goner. It shouldn’t have surprised me when we found you alive. You always find a way to make it through things that seem impossible…” Lance yawned. It was getting harder and harder to keep his eyes open.

Taking his head off the glass of the pod, Lance looked up and watched Keith for a solid minute. His chest was rising and falling slowly. _Just making sure_ , Lance thought to himself as he laid down on the cold floor. He curled into a tight ball and was asleep within minutes.

###### 

**THUMP**

Lance woke up with a start. _What the quiznak was that?_ Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he looked around. He couldn’t have been asleep for more than an hour. The medical bay was still dark. “Hello?” maybe Coran had gotten up to check on Keith? Nobody answered. The ship had probably just hit a stray meteor or something. Lance was about to curl up and go back to sleep when he noticed something about the healing pod was different. The blue light cast shadows out behind him as he tried to figure out what had changed. Reaching a tentative hand forward, Lance frowned. The glass had disappeared. The pod was open.

“Keith? Keith, are you awake?” Lance scrambled to his feet, looking for any sign that the red paladin was conscious. _Why is the pod open? Is he healed already?_ Lance jumped when he heard a groan.

“Nnnnn” Keith’s right eye fluttered. Lance felt his face crack into a huge smile. Rushing forward, he grabbed Keith by the shoulders.

“Keith! You’re okay! H-How are you feeling?”

The red paladin blinked a few times. He seemed out of it. “Lance?” his voice was quiet, very hoarse, and he sounded confused.

“Yes! Yes I’m right here! Lean on me, let’s get you out of there.” Lance threaded an arm around Keith’s unclothed waist and led him to the table had been placed on when he first arrived in the medical bay. He helped Keith sit down, and shrugged his jacket off, draping it over Keith’s shoulders. He was probably cold. Lance stood in front of Keith, looking down at him. _He seems fine._

“Lance… what happened? Do you- hey… Lance, are you okay?” Keith’s right eye opened wide as he looked up at Lance’s face. _Quiznak._ He had started crying again out of nowhere. He clenched his eyes shut, trying to will his tears away. _Great. Right in front of Keith._ He mentally kicked himself.

“No. I’m fine. I’m just… glad you’re okay. We didn’t know how badly you had been hurt and I was worried you weren’t going to b-“ he felt a hand on his face. He opened his eyes. Keith was reaching up, wiping his tears away. His mind went blank.

“Hey, I’m fine. I’m fine.” Keith was… comforting him? This was new. He didn’t care. He was just glad the red paladin was okay. Alive. He brought his own hand up and placed it on top of Keiths, holding it to his face. He was pleasantly surprised when Keith didn’t yank his hand away. Lance didn’t really know what he was doing. It just felt… right. He closed his eyes. They stayed like that, neither of them speaking, until Lance felt Keith shift. 

He had stood up. Opening his eyes, Lance was about to tell Keith he should sit back down when Keith’s other had came up around the back of his neck. What was he doing? Keith’s fingers tangled in the hair at the base of Lance’s neck, pulling lightly, and it felt _so good_. He didn’t care how weird this would look if anyone walked in. “Keith?” This was nice, but Keith really should sit down. “Keith you need to rest, I’ll go-“ he was cut off. It took a moment for his brain to process what was happening.

Keith was _kissing_ him. When his mind finally caught up with what was going on, he found he didn’t mind. Closing his eyes, he brought his hands to Keith’s slender waist and hesitantly kissed him back. _His lips are so soft… warm_ … Keith pulled back, and Lance groaned in disappointment. Lasting only a second, the kiss had ended too soon. 

Allowing his eyes to open, he nearly fell over backwards.

“K-KEITH. YOUR EYE…” The white bandage covering the red paladin’s left eye had turned a deep shade of red. There were two lines of blood trickling down his face from under the bandage. Some rolled down and dripped off his chin, splattering on his own chest. He seemed confused, unaware of what was happening.

“What’s wrong Lance?” he asked innocently, stepping forward as Lance scrambled backwards.

“S-Stay here, I’ll go get Coran.” Lance was panicking. He turned, about to run for the door, when something stopped him. Keith had grabbed his wrist. He yanked Lance back around to face him again.

Lance screamed. The bandage was gone. There was a dark, gaping hole where Keith’s eye should have been, and blood was pouring out, washing down over his body, covering him in red.

“OH GOD- KEITH, I NEED TO GET CORAN. RIGHT NOW. YOU NEED TO GET BACK IN THE HEALING POD BEFORE YOU BLEED OUT. LET ME G-“ Lance yanked his arm out of Keith’s grip, and started backing away. A bloody hand reached out, grabbing the fabric of shirt on Lance’s chest. 

“D-Don’t leave me.” Keith coughed pitifully and blood trickled out of the corner of his mouth. “L-Lance… Why didn’t you stop me? Lance…”

“AHHHHHHH” Lance let out a shrill scream and bolted upright as the lights came on in the medical bay. He grasped the front of his shirt where Keith had been holding on. His chest was heaving. He thought he was going to throw up.

“Lance? Lance! Are you okay?” Allura ran over to where he was sprawled on the ground at the base of Keith’s pod. “Lance! Answer me!” 

He looked around wildly, his eyes darting frantically between Keith and the princess. “I-I…” the realization hit Lance like a freight train. It had been a _dream_. Keith was still in his healing pod, and Allura must have come to check on him.

“Breathe Lance.” 

He gulped air into his lungs, taking a couple deep breaths. The panic was subsiding. “S-Sorry Princess. I came to check on Keith. I needed to see that he was alive, and I guess I fell asleep here… And I had a… strange dream.” Lance avoided Allura’s concerned gaze. He was embarrassed. He cleared his throat. “Well, I should get back to my room now… Bye!” he got up and quickly exited the medical bay before Allura could question him.

He made it back to his room in record time. Shutting the door behind him, he leaned against the wall and sank to the floor, cradling his head in his hands. _What the quiznak was that dream?_ He was confused. And scared. _I’ve gotta be going insane to dream about kissing that mullet-head._ He banged his head back against the wall and looked at the ceiling. _I must have hit my head during the battle yesterday._ He clutched his chest again, where Keith had grabbed him in his dream. A sense of dread crept into the back of his mind. The kiss was forgotten, replaced by worry. He thought about Keith's eye. The blood. He shuddered. 

_Is Keith going to be okay?_ Lance asked himself for the hundredth time. He still wasn't sure.

**BANG BANG BANG**

Lance was dragged away from his thoughts as someone knocked at his door.

“Breakfast is in 5, Lance. Come down and join us if you want!”

“Y-Yeah. Thanks Hunk. I’ll be there, just give me a minute.” He shook his head to scatter his thoughts, pushing himself up. He needed to get ready.

He got dressed. He left his room. He went to breakfast. Pidge, Hunk, Shiro, and Coran were there. He ate. He went for a walk. He forgot. 

The dream was gone, like it had never happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm evil. 
> 
> I hate myself.
> 
> I'm so sorry.
> 
> I'm torturing both of my sons now.
> 
> THEY FINALLY KISS AND OF COURSE IT WASN'T REAL. I'm banging my head against a wall. 
> 
> WHAT IS LIFE?!?! *sobs* I promise our boys will be happy soon! >:)


	5. Trapped

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The time comes for Keith to emerge from the pod. Let's see what happens, shall we?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry. I really don't like this chapter. I feel like I'm just shoving crap in your faces at this point...
> 
> BUT. Chapter 6 will finally see things starting to take off, I just had to get the plot up to that point... so yeah. Sorry about it taking so long, but. IT HAD TO BE DONE. 
> 
> Stay tuned for the good stuff. >:) It's coming. I promise.

A bright flash of blinding purple light.

Someone screaming his name.

An uncomfortable heat filling Red’s cockpit.

The cold vacuum of space.

A sharp pain, a dull ache. Everything faded to black.

Disconnected scenes and images flashed through his mind, separated by a dizzying blackness. 

A blurred vision of Hunk above him, carrying his upper body. 

Blue. A haze of blue. Someone wearing blue. Lance. Lance was next to him.

A searing pain from the left side of his face. It felt like someone had stuck an ember into his eye.

He was screaming. Everything went dark again.

###### 

Everything was dark. There were no images. But this time, it was different. He could hear something. A muffled voice. _Who is that?_ It was hard to understand. It sounded like someone was talking to him while he was underwater. The words were garbled and seemed to echo, making them difficult to hear. 

“…….f you di…… I’ll ki…. you.”

_Lance._ It was definitely the blue paladin. _What is he saying?_ He tried to listen harder, tried to make out the words. It was almost as if his voice was getting farther and farther away. _No, wait. I’m here Lance! I’m here!_ Lance’s voice had faded out, and everything had returned to the dark, deafeningly silent blackness. He felt as if he were trapped inside his own head.

###### 

It was dinner time. Keith was due to be coming out of the pod in 2 hours. Lance had spent most of the day in the medical bay alone. Coran had come in a few times to check Keith’s stats on the pod monitor, but other than him, nobody else had bothered to visit. Hunk had come and dragged him off to the kitchen, forcing him to help bring the heaping plates of food goo out to everyone. And now here he was, stuck in the dining area when he just wanted to be in the medical bay. 

Dinner was uncomfortable, to say the least. Allura had said that everyone would discuss what had happened to Keith, but that still hadn’t happened. Nobody spoke. The only noise was the clinking of silverware on plates. Everyone stared at their plates. Lance put a spoonful of goo into his mouth. He wasn’t hungry at all, but he forced himself to swallow. He set his spoon down with a clatter and pushed his plate away, resting his head in his hands on the tabletop. Shiro broke the silence.

“Lance, I know you’re upset, but you need to eat. You need to keep your strength up. Zarkon could attack at any time.” His tone was gentle, concerned. He knew Shiro was just trying to look out for his wellbeing, but for some reason, it was pissing Lance off. He ignored the black paladin, and instead, pointedly pushed his plate even farther away. “Come on, Lance.”

Something snapped inside the blue paladin. He stood abruptly, sending his chair sliding back from the table with an awful scraping noise. He slammed his hands down on the table, rattling everyone’s plates. Everyone looked up at him, shocked and confused. 

“What do you care?” it came out sharper than he had meant. Shiro’s mouth fell open like he was about to say something, but Lance didn’t give him a chance to. “Keith is stuck in a healing pod, and it seems like you don’t even care. It seems like none of you care. Nobody came to check on him today. Nobody. Even if Zarkon attacks, we can’t form Voltron without Keith. In case you forgot, he pilots the red lion.”

“Lance- think about it. He’s in a healing pod. It’s healing him. There’s nothing we can do until he’s ready to come out, which is in a few hours, so there’s no point worrying about it till then.” Lance flinched at Pidge’s words. He knew what she was trying to say was completely rational, but it just sounded cold. 

Lance threw everyone a look of sheer disappointment before turning and storming out of the room. He needed to clear his head. _Why am I so riled up about this anyways? Pidge was right. He’s in a healing pod, he’ll be fine._ Before he even realized it, he had walked all the way back to the medical bay. Keith should be out any time now, so he might as well just wait here.

He entered, and returned to a chair he had dragged over to Keith’s pod earlier that day. Sitting down heavily, he sighed. _I shouldn’t have exploded at everyone like that… I don’t even know why I did._ Resting his elbows on his knees, Lance looked up at the monitor on the side of the pod. Less than an hour to go now.

He waited.

He started to doze off.

A high frequency beeping alerted him that something was happening. He looked up at the display. _He’s done!_ A wave of relief crashed over Lance. Keith was going to be fine, and they’d be back to being rivals and arguing in no time. “Keith!” Lance pressed his hands up against the glass. 

Allura and Coran entered the bay, walking straight over to the pod. Lance backed away to give them some room. Coran tapped something into the pod’s glass screen, an aqua light showing everywhere his fingertips touched. He took 2 steps back, and the glass casing of the healing pod disappeared. 

“Keith? Keith. Wakey wakey!” Coran spoke cheerfully. “Come on sleepy head. Time to get out of there.” Keith didn’t respond.

“Coran… Is he…?” Allura sounded unsure.

“Nonsense, he’s probably just experiencing a little healing pod si- QUIZNAK!” Coran had to rush forward to catch Keith before he could pitch face first into the ground. “I don’t understand…” his voice was strained as he struggled to hold Keith up.

“Hey, is he okay?” Lance edged forward, looking at the red paladin over Coran’s shoulder. 

“He’s still unconscious… He may need more time in the pod.” Allura helped Coran place Keith upright into the pod again. 

“B-But I thought you said he’d only need a full day in there?” Lance’s mouth had gone dry. His feelings of relief were instantly replaced with concern. 

“There may have been more damage than we anticipated. And these things can’t fix everything.” Coran patted the side of the healing pod as he restarted the healing process. The glass reappeared, sealing Keith inside once more. “These pods help tissues that naturally regenerate on their own, it just speeds up the process. Unfortunately, nervous and neural tissues, which don’t normally regenerate in humans, can’t really be helped. They can be regenerated structurally, but normal function doesn’t always return.”

“So how long will he be in there?” a sinking feeling tugged at Lance’s heart. He didn’t have a good feeling about this.

“Well, we’ll keep him in there for one more day, just for good measure, and hopefully his consciousness will return by then. If not…. Well… The trauma may have overloaded his brain. He probably just needs more time to recover mentally. I'm sure he'll be alright, no need to worry.”

Lance felt awful. He blamed himself now more than ever. Keith may not come out of this after all.

###### 

Darkness. Keith didn’t like the dark, and this was starting to get old really fast. He felt like he was trapped inside his own head. 

“….Keith!”

_Lance?_ He waited, hoping to hear something else. Anything. He got nothing. Just silence.

_LANCE! DAMNIT! WHY CAN’T I WAKE UP? GET ME OUT OF HERE!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> KEITH WAKE UP, DAMNIT. 
> 
> Spoiler alert, he will. I mean, I guess that's not really a spoiler. I could never kill my son. I love him too much.
> 
> CHAPTER 6 IS WHERE SH*T FINALLY STARTS. I'll try to have it up by....... the 26th at the latest. 
> 
> You guys are awesome! Thanks for reading! Don't be afraid to give me some feedback. I'd love that.


	6. Wake Me Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, okay. So. I know I keep acting all hype for the next chapter I'm about to post, saying things will finally start happening, and I just wanted to apologize for that. I feel like I've been getting everyone's hopes up and then disappointing them almost? Its just... This is the first multi-chapter fic I've written, so I grossly underestimated the amount of chapters it would end up being (which right now, it seems like it will be a fairly long fic), along with how many chapters it would take to get to the "good stuff", but I promise its coming!
> 
> I'm trying my best to write an enjoyable fic for you guys, so let me know what you think! I'd love to hear your opinions and any recommendations you have for me! Thanks guys! :')

Coran and Allura had left after restarting the healing process on Keith’s pod. Lance stayed. Once again, he was alone in the medical bay, staring up at his friend. _Rival_ , he corrected himself. It was late, once again, and the castle ship had gone back into night mode. The only light in the room came from the glow of the occupied pod. Lance yawned.

Since the battle, he hadn’t gotten much sleep, and on top of that, he hadn’t been eating much. He didn’t feel hungry, he had no appetite. He just felt empty inside. Hollow. 

Everyone seemed to be brushing this off as if it were nothing. Even after Keith hadn’t come out of the pod when he was supposed to, none of the other paladins had come to check up on him. Allura and Coran had probably told them what was going on, but still. _Why does it seem like I’m the only one who is worried? Did nobody care when I was in the pod a while back?_ Lance could see the other side of the argument, he wasn’t dumb. He understood that these awesome, magical healing pods, or whatever, could heal a human from near death, and that there really was no point in sitting around watching it happen. But now, he had learned there was a limit to what these things could do, and that knowledge had settled in his stomach like a rock. 

_What if the damage done to Keith’s…. whatever is unrepairable?_ He shifted into a more comfortable sitting position on the floor. _It’s kind of odd_ , he thought, _that we still don’t even know what exactly is wrong with him._ All anyone knew was what Coran had told them: it was some sort of head injury. He hadn’t told them how deep the metal had gone, or where exactly it had gone in. Obviously it was somewhere under Keith’s bandages, he just hoped it hadn’t gotten him in the eye.

The unsettled feeling in his stomach only grew. _I need to stop thinking so much about this…_ he sighed. _Might as well try this out again…_

“Hey Keith. I still don’t know if you can hear me in there, but I’m here. I’ve been here. I still feel responsible for you being injured. Everyone keeps saying it wasn’t my fault, that it was everyone’s fault, but…” he trailed off, swallowing thickly. He looked at the ground, fidgeting with his fingers as he talked. “Anyways, everything is weird without you around. I know it’s only been… what… a day since you’ve been in there? But it feels like its been way longer. Nobody else seems to care, and that’s really pissing me off.”

Lance paused to clear his throat. “It feels really good to be able to vent to someone about all this… even if you can’t answer me. It’s just nice to have someone to talk to.” The giant knot of stress, fear, and doubt that had been occupying the back of the blue paladin’s mind seemed to be slowly unraveling. It felt good to get all of his feelings out. It was like a huge weight was being lifted off his chest, and it was getting to be a little easier to breathe. He yawned again, eyes starting to droop from exhaustion.

“Well… Just hurry up and get out of there already, Keith. I’m waiting...” and with that, Lance slumped over and fell into a hesitant, but deep sleep.

###### 

A voice echoed through the darkness. He strained to hear it. 

“-ve been here.” From what Keith could hear, Lance didn’t sound like himself. He sounded… much less perky than normal. Almost sad. 

_Lance!_ Keith’s chest swelled with relief and… something else when he heard the blue paladin’s voice. Quickly pushing that aside, he tried his hardest to focus. _I need to snap out of this. I need to wake up. Wake up. WAKE UP DAMN IT…_

He was sick of being trapped here. He didn’t know where ‘here’ was, let alone how to explain it. It felt as though he was just a soul floating around in a dark vacuum, almost like he had been detached from his body. _Patience yields focus._

_I have to get out. C’mon Lance, say something else._ He needed something to focus on. Something to center himself.

“I’m waiting…”

_WAKE UP_. A pinprick of blue light appeared. _Come on, come onnnn…_ The light expanded, surrounding him, similar to the explosion he remembered being caught in. It almost looked like he was going through a wormhole. He felt like he was spinning. 

Out of nowhere, the spinning stopped. He gasped, his right eye flying open. The blue glow of a healing pod surrounded him. He was freezing. It was so cold in here… He shuddered. Putting his hand out, he pressed it to the glass.

The healing pod deactivated, detecting Keith’s consciousness. The glass disappeared. He leaned forward, preparing to exit the pod.

About to step out, he nearly tripped over a lump on the floor. Looking closer, he discovered it was… Lance.

The blue paladin was sleeping in a heap on the floor, right outside his pod. Trying to be quiet so he wouldn’t wake Lance, he stepped over him. Keith only got a few steps away before discovering just how weak he was. His vision blurred as his legs buckled underneath him. Trying to catch himself, his arms shot out to grab the nearest object. 

**CRASH**

Keith hit the floor. He had knocked a chair over on his way down. _Quiznak._ He heard Lance shift behind him, and soon after, he heard his sleepy voice.

“….Keith?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MY SON IS AWAKE! I was so happy I almost cried while writing this. 
> 
> I CAN'T WAIT TO POST THE NEXT CHAPTER MWAHAAHAHAH.
> 
> On another note, I know that this fic doesn't have anywhere near the amount of followers as some other fics, but each and every person that even considers reading this makes me feel so special!!!!!! It puts a huge smile on my face every time I check up and see new kudos, bookmarks, comments, & hits! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING! I hope you're enjoying it! You guys are awesome :)


	7. Realization

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm having so much fun writing this fic! I have such grand plans for these two! >:) 
> 
> Anyways, I figured out why the plot seems to be moving so slow: my chapters are fairly short. duh. Each chapter is somewhere around 1,000 words, so yes. This fic will end up being very long (chapter-wise). But I promise we are just now starting to dive into the good stuff. 
> 
> UGH I CAN'T WAIT! Enjoy! :D

A loud noise shook Lance from his sleep. He bolted upright into a sitting position, rubbing his eyes. _What the quiznak was tha-_ the healing pod in front of him was empty. Keith was… out? _When did he get out?_ Lance’s brain was foggy with sleep still. He turned slowly to where he had heard the noise. He squinted through the dark, the blue glow from the healing pod not helping much. Something was heaped on the floor not far from where he was. Wait no… It was some _one_. 

The light from the healing pod blinked out as it finished shutting down. _Keith must have just gotten out minutes ago… and that means…_

“…Keith?” Lance questioned into the darkness. He had a million thoughts and feelings rushing through his head all at once. The one that stood out the most was hope. It took a minute for any response, but soon enough, Lance was answered.

“Q-Quiznak… Lance?” Keith rasped. His voice quivered and he sounded like he was out of breath. Lance’s heart leapt in his chest. _Keith is awake!_

“Keith!” Lance scrambled to his feet, rushing over to where the red paladin was. “Are you okay? What happened? Did you just get out? Are you cold? How do you feel?” He had so many questions he wanted to ask, they all rushed out at once. Lance couldn’t help it. His heart was fluttering inside his chest. He knew he was probably overwhelming Keith, but he was just so happy! He knelt down next to Keith, and immediately bit back the urge to spew more questions at him. “Keith?”

“I-I….” Keith barely got a word out before his body was racked with violent shivers. Lance’s eyes went wide. He shrugged his jacket off and draped it over Keith’s shaking shoulders. In the process, his hand brushed the red paladin’s arm. He was ice cold. 

“Shit, Keith, hold on a second.” Lance got up and blindly found his way over to the doorway in the dark. He put his hand on the control panel, bringing the lights in the medical bay up. _That’s better. Now I can actually see what I’m doing._ Lance snagged a blanket off one of the tables and ran back to Keith. Now that he could actually see him, Keith looked terrible. He was slumped on the ground, trying to hold himself up with his arms. He was trembling. He was pale. “Hey buddy, let me help you up.” Lance moved closer, draping the blanket over Keith, on top of his jacket. He was about to loop an arm around Keith’s torso when he was met with resistance.

“N-No. Stop.” Keith was staring at the floor. Other than his shivering, he wasn’t moving.

“Keith, come on, you need help. Let me help you.” He tried again, and this time, Keith let him. Lance got his arm around the red paladin’s torso. “Okay, ready? You gotta help me out here…. Shit, you’re heavy.” Trying to help Keith up was like trying to lift a car. He was too weak to even try standing. _This isn’t going to work… I need to try something else._

A light bulb went off in Lance’s head. “Okay, bear with me Keith. You’re not going to like this, but it’s the only way I can help you.” Before Keith could react, Lance looped his other arm under Keith’s legs and lifted him off the ground. Bridal-style. The red paladin was still heavy, but it was much easier to lift him this way.

Keith could only groan as Lance carried him over to a table. Lance set Keith on the edge of the table so that he was sitting up, legs hanging over the edge. He pulled up a chair and sat in front of Keith. 

“There, that’s better.” Lance reached for a second blanket, and draped it over Keith’s lap. He leaned his elbows on the edge of the table, resting his chin in his hands. The red paladin didn’t seem entirely coherent at the moment, so Lance just sat in silence, waiting for Keith to snap out of his funk. He knew firsthand how much energy the healing pods drained from the body. 

The red and blue paladins sat in silence for almost 10 minutes. Lance was well on his way to falling back asleep when suddenly Keith twitched. Lance blinked his eyes a few times to wake his brain back up, and looked up to observe Keith’s face. His right eye slowly scanned the room before looking down and settling on Lance. Keith looked confused, but it seemed like he was snapping out of the fog he had been in.

“Keith? You okay?” Lance hesitantly reached out and rested a hand on Keith’s knee. 

“L-Lance… I’m fine. Just…” Keith struggled to untangle his arms from Lance’s jacket and the blankets. “Hold up.” He held his arms out in front of him, and slowly moved them apart. “Lance. I can’t…” he brought his hand up to the left side of his face and felt the bandages. The red paladin’s right eye seemed to widen, slowly realizing what had happened. Lance squeezed his knee, trying to keep Keith calm.

“Keith, it’s okay. That’s just a bandage. You got hit in the face by a piece of shrapnel. We need to leave the bandages on until Coran looks a- HEY! NO!” Keith had started tearing at the bandages, trying to remove them. “Keith, _stop_!” Lance grabbed Keith’s wrists and pulled his hands away from his face. The red paladin was too weak to resist. “You have to leave them on.”

“But Lance, I-I can’t see out of my left eye.” Keith was freaking out. He wasn’t listening. It was almost as if he were having a panic attack. His chest was rising and falling rapidly and even though Lance was sure he had warmed up, he was shaking even harder than he had been earlier.

“You can’t see because of the bandage.” He repeated. “Calm down Keith. Everything is fine. Deep breaths.” Lance stood up so he was eye level with Keith. He reached out, holding Keith’s head still with one hand while he smoothed the bandages back into place with the other. “There. Now leave those alone. Coran needs to take a look at you before we do anything. You stay here and I’ll go get him.” _Man, Coran is not going to be happy about being woken up in the middle of the night…_ Just as Lance was turning to leave, something caught his left arm. He looked down. It was Keith’s hand.

“Please… Lance. D-Don’t leave, I don’t want to be alone right now…” Lance’s breath caught in his throat. Keith looked absolutely terrified. He was probably reliving the accident now that he had finally come back to himself and realized what was going on. 

“Hey, everything is okay, Keith. I promise.” Lance pushed himself up onto the table next to Keith and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “I know what happened to you was scary, but that’s over. I’m here now.” Lance almost choked on the air he was breathing when Keith leaned into him, placing his head on Lance’s shoulder. Keith's shoulders were still shaking. “Uh… Keith?” 

The only response he got was a loud, broken sob. Lance’s heart twisted uncomfortably in his chest at the noise.

Keith was crying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keith, son, you are breaking my heart. :,)
> 
> Uh, Lance, shouldn't you be getting Coran instead of comforting your boyfrie-AHEM rival? (don't worry he does)
> 
> ONCE AGAIN, a reminder: I love hearing what you guys think of this! Leave me some comments! They fuel my motivation to write :) also, whether they are negative or positive, I want to know your opinions! It can only help me become a better writer. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! And thank you to everyone for the lovely comments you've left. They're so nice I almost cried. I LOVE YOU GUYS! Next chapter will be up within the next couple of days! Stay cool ya'll.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I cranked this out sooner than I thought I would. :D
> 
> I hope you love it! ENJOY!

Lance didn’t know what to do. He had never been particularly good at comforting people… Especially people like Keith, who rarely ever showed any emotion other than when he got angry. _What do I do…? Quiznak._ Keith had stopped sobbing, but was still letting out soft sniffling noises every now and then. Lance’s shirt was wet where Keith had been leaning his head. _It’s not like Keith to act so vulnerable, especially in front of me._

Lance was shaken from his thoughts when Keith moved away. He pushed himself off of Lance so that he was sitting upright on his own. He pulled Lance’s jacket and the two blankets tighter around himself. He seemed to have calmed down a bit. Lance cleared his throat. “Keith, I really should go get Coran now. Are you going to be okay on your own for a little while?” He was looking intently at the red paladin, who was obviously avoiding eye contact.

“Yes. I’ll be fine.” His voice was hoarse from crying, and he opted to look at the ground instead of at Lance.

“And you promise you’ll leave the bandages alone?” Lance raised one of his eyebrows, waiting for Keith to respond.

“Yes.”

“Great. Stay here and… just don’t move, okay?” Lance slid off the edge of the table and gave the red paladin one more look before running over to the door. He exited the medical bay and ran all the way to Coran’s quarters.

As soon as Keith was alone, he let out a shuddering sigh. “Hurry back.” He said to the empty room.

###### 

Not even 10 minutes later, Keith was startled when the doors slid open. Lance jogged back in, red in the face and very out of breath, with Coran right behind him. Coran approached him immediately.

“Well well well, Keith. Decided to wake up finally? How are you feeling?” Coran questioned him as he began unwrapping Keith from the blankets. 

“It’s cold...” Keith mumbled as the Altean finished with the blankets and continued to remove Lance’s jacket. He was left in the form-fitting white healing pod pants. All he wanted was to dive under a pile of blankets. “And my eye-"

“Yes, yes, we’ll get you warmed up soon enough. I just need to inspect you first. Lay back.” Coran instructed. Keith laid back on the table, and Coran immediately started poking and prodding him. He nearly jumped off the table when he was poked right in the ribs.

“H-Hey!”

“Sorry, just checking this spot out. You had quite the internal hemorrhage over here when you went into the pod. Looks like that healed up nicely. May still be a bit tender for a few days though.” Coran continued, moving over his body, poking him in random places. He was currently inspecting Keith’s legs.

“What about my eye?” Keith tried to sit up so he could look at Coran with his right eye. “Why is it- _Oof_ ” Coran had put a hand on his chest and pushed him back down firmly.

“No moving. I’ll be getting to that in just a tick. Let me finish up down here first.”

Keith stared at the ceiling. He was starting to regain some of his energy, and it was making him antsy. He just wanted these bandages removed.

“I-Is everything okay so far?” a small voice came from his left. It was Lance. Keith had almost forgotten he was here. 

“Yes, all his internal bleeding has stopped, the tissues have healed, and most of the small lacerations across his body have healed as well. He’s looking good so far.” Coran looked up and gave Lance a small smile before turning his attention back to Keith. “Right then, let’s take a look at that eye. Keep them closed for now.” He walked along the side of the table until he was standing next to Keith’s head. 

Keith closed his eyes and held his breath as Coran leaned over him and began to remove the bandages. 

He felt the cold air of the medical bay hit the left side of his face. _Finally._

“Looks like this cut was deep enough to leave a scar behind.” He felt Coran trace a finger down his face, following the cut left behind from the metal. “No biggie. It makes you look cool. Now let me just clean around this…”

“Can I open my eyes yet?” 

“Do you want disinfectant in your eyes? That’ll burn worse than a Clanmural’s bite. Best to keep them closed for a bit while this dries.”

“Coran is right, the scar does look cool. But the mullet kind of cancels that out. You still look dumb.” _Typical Lance_ , Keith thought to himself. At least the blue paladin was acting normal, so it couldn’t look that bad. Could it?

“Alright. Why don’t you open up and let me take a look at that eye now.” Coran helped Keith sit up. 

“O-Okay.” His chest ached. He had been holding his breath. _Breathe, everything is fine._ Keith took a deep breath before opening his eyes. His heart sank. “Coran? I… I can’t see out of my left eye.” The panic began to rise in his chest, squeezing his lungs, making it hard to breathe. His chest heaved with the effort.

“Oh no.” Lance said under his breath. Keith heard him.

“Calm down, calm down.” Coran grabbed Keith by the chin and turned his face towards him. Picking up an altean device vaguely similar to a flashlight, Coran turned it on. “Hold still. Your eye may have not fully recovered yet. The shock of tissue regeneration could be delaying the pathway in your brain. Let’s give it a tick, shall we?” Coran shined the light into Keith’s eyes one by one. He couldn’t see anything out of his left. Not even a hint of light. 

“R-Right.” Coran turned the light off and put it down on the table. They waited a few minutes while Coran took some blood from Keith’s arm to run a few tests, and then retested Keith’s eyes with the light. Still nothing.

“Everything looks normal, structurally speaking.” Coran hesitated, stroking his moustache. “But…”

“But what?” Keith practically yelled, startling Lance, Coran, and himself.

“Well, certain types of tissues, specifically nervous and neural tissues, cannot be completely healed by the pods.” He paused, watching Keith’s face carefully as the red paladin processed the information.

“But… I got hit in the eye… Not my brain, right?” Keith didn’t understand. Lance had moved closer to the table, a pained look on his face. 

“Well yes, but the metal must have nicked your optical nerve. While your eye appears to be fully healed structurally, the function of the optic nerve wasn’t restored…”

“Coran… are you saying-“ Coran silenced Lance with a wave of his hand. Lance slowly sank into a nearby chair.

“Keith, you will not regain vision in your left eye. I’m sorry.” The Altean put a hand on Keith’s shoulder. 

The red paladin just sat there on the table, staring blankly at his feet. He was in shock. _I-I’m partially blind? How could this happen? Will I be able to pilot Red anymore?_ Keith clapped a hand over his mouth. He felt like he was going to be sick. What if he really couldn’t pilot Red? They wouldn’t be able to form Voltron… They… They would have to replace him. He wouldn’t get to be the red paladin anymore.

“Keith…” Lance’s voice was weak. “Keith, its my fault. I should have- Quiznak.” Something snapped inside him when Lance spoke. Keith turned his head, looking over to where the blue paladin sat. He was done acting like a crybaby. He was alive, wasn't he? Keith slammed his hands down onto the table. He was _angry_.

_I’m done feeling sorry for myself. I can still see. I’m not totally blind. I have my right eye. I can still pilot Red. I can still be a paladin of Voltron. I can still put an end to the Galra empire. Nothing has changed._

He broke his silence, clenching his jaw with resolve. “Lance. Stop saying it’s your fault. I didn’t listen. I’m facing the consequences of my own actions now.” Lance seemed shocked by the fire behind his voice. “I’ll adjust. I may need help, but I can still be a part of team Voltron.”

Lance stood back up, wiping his nose with the back of his hand and smiling widely. “He’s back. That’s the Keith I know.”

“There we go. There is nothing more we can do tonight, so everyone needs to get back to their rooms. Keith, some sleep in a comfy bed should do you good. I want you to come see me first thing in the morning.” Coran gave the red paladin a thumbs up and an encouraging smile before exiting the medical bay to return to his quarters.

“Coran is right. Let’s get to bed its late.” Lance turned and started walking to the door. He smiled to himself. _Keith seems to be taking this well. He’s in pretty good spirits now. His determination to overcome this will help him ou-_

**THUD**

Lance whipped around, and saw the red paladin on the ground once again.

“I guess I’m still a little weak from the pod…” Keith looked over at the blue paladin. “Any chance you could help me back to my room?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OUR PRECIOUS SON HAS REGAINED HIS RESOLVE! HE IS BACK TO HIS OLD SELF! (sort of) Hopefully he will be able to adjust to being blind in one eye :,) Plus, now he has a badass scar on his face :)
> 
> I'm super excited because LANCE AND KEITH WILL BE ALONE IN THE NEXT CHAPTER. MWAHAAHAH
> 
> (I had no idea how to spell Clanmural but I tried? I think ya'll know what I was talking about.) ALSO. Another note: The pod healed the structure of Keith's eye, so it LOOKS normal (Not including the scar down his face). He is blind, but his eye has not clouded up or anything. Looks completely normal, it just doesn't work now. :') AND the pod is able to heal shallow lacerations, but leaves scars when cuts are very deep or injuries are very extreme. (Just in case there was any confusion)
> 
> ANYWAYS. Let me know what you think. This chapter was a little longer than my others, and I'm not so sure I like how it came out. Seemed a bit choppy to me. But I'll try to have the next chapter up soon! I LOVE YOU GUYS! :)


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LANCE, MY SON, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> Ahem. 
> 
> So anyways, I'm not sure I like how this chapter came out, but it is what it is. I hope you guys enjoy it! Thanks for reading!!!!!!

Lance shuffled over to where Keith sat on the ground. He stifled a yawn. His exhaustion was catching back up to him. “Sure thing, mullet.” Keith frowned. 

“So we’re back to that?” the red paladin rolled his eyes up at Lance from where he sat on the floor in front of the table. “Can’t you just stick with my name?” 

“Nope. Not a chance.” Lance smirked. He was glad the red paladin had calmed down so much. It was almost like things were back to normal. Lance proceeded to walk right past Keith, earning him a confused grunt from the paladin. 

“Hey, where do you think you’re going? You’re supposed to be helping me.” Keith looked over his shoulder, eyes following Lance. It was weird not being able to see out of his left eye. At least it looked normal. Nobody would be able to tell if they didn’t know about it.

“Yeah, yeah, give me a minute.” Lance leaned over the table and grabbed his jacket from where Coran had discarded it along with the blankets when he had been examining Keith. “You’re shivering still. And seeing as you’re half naked, I thought you’d want to wear this on our way back to our rooms.” He tossed the jacket at Keith, who was unprepared for it. It landed unceremoniously over the red paladin’s head. Normally, Keith would have exploded on Lance for doing something like that. 

“Th-Thanks…” He inhaled Lance’s scent from the jacket, cheeks going a little red. It smelled faintly like a mixture of campfire and cologne. _Smells nice. Wait.. What the…_ Keith shook his head, scattering the strange thoughts and the feeling that had settled in his chest. He reached up and pulled the jacket off his face, sliding it on quickly and pulling the hood up over his head. He had forgotten how cold he was.

“Alright. Ready?” Lance crouched down next to Keith, preparing to help him up. His jacket was too big on the red paladin, the sleeves extending far past where his hands were. Keith peered at him from under the hood. _Cute._ Lance mentally kicked himself. _C-Cute? I meant gross. His mullet is rubbing all over my jacket._ Lance felt his cheeks heat up.

“Uh, Lance? Are you going to help me up or not?” Lance cleared his throat. 

“Yeah, sorry, just tired.” Lance grabbed Keith’s right arm and wrapped it up over his shoulders. “Ready now?” He stood up, hauling Keith with him. “Is this okay?”

“Y-Yeah.” Keith thought he would have gained back enough energy to walk on his own by now. Unfortunately, that was not the case. He sagged helplessly against Lance’s left side. “Sorry… I just don’t have the energy to stand I guess.”

“Here, how’s this?” Lance grabbed hold of Keith’s wrist with his right hand, and snaked his left arm down around Keith’s waist to steady him. “Better?”

Keith tried to ignore the fact that Lance’s hand was resting on his hip. _It’s just to hold me up, no big deal. Why do I care anyways?_ “Much better. Let’s go. I need sleep so I can regain my energy.” 

As they exited the medical bay, the lights flickered out, and the doors slid closed. The hall was dark. The only light came from the occasional blue light fixtures along the walls. They didn’t help much. Lance could barely see where they were going. “Coran could have at least turned the lights up before he bolted.” he whined.

“It’s fine, just keep walking.” Keith snapped. He was tired, and it wasn’t like they were going anywhere fast anyways. Lance was practically dragging Keith along, since his legs refused to even hold his own weight upright. “Wait. Lance, stop.” The arm that was slung over Lance’s shoulders was cramping uncomfortably. Lance was taller than him in the first place, and their position had his arm jerked up higher than he would have liked. It felt like he was dislocating his shoulder. “Stop stop _stop_.”

“What?” Lance groaned, slowing his steps to a halt. 

“This isn’t working. Put me down, this hurts.” Keith sighed with relief as Lance walked them over to the wall where they both slid their backs down and sat to rest. 

“Sorry…” In the dim lighting, Keith looked over. Lance had a guilty look plastered on his face.

“What are you sorry for? You’re just trying to help.” Lance made momentary eye contact with Keith before looking away again. _What’s up with him?_ Keith thought to himself.

“I… Just…” Lance coughed nervously. “I know I already told you this, but I feel responsible. I feel like it’s my fault you went partially blind, and now… I’m trying to help, but it seems like all I do is hurt you. I’m sorry.”

“Lance…” Keith didn’t even know what to say. He reached out and put a hand on Lance’s shoulder. “Listen. If it weren’t for you, I’d probably be dead.” At that, Lance’s head whipped around. He was staring at Keith, mouth slightly open.

“….What?”

“Your voice. I heard your voice. I was… I don’t really know how to explain it. It was like I was trapped inside my own head. Your voice is what brought me out of there. I would probably still be stuck in the healing pod if it weren’t for you. Hell, I might have never woken up. So… thanks Lance. You have nothing to feel guilty about.” He gently squeezed Lance’s shoulder and gave him a small smile. 

“…I didn’t know you’d even heard me.” Lance’s vision blurred with tears. _Shit._ He wiped his eyes quickly, hoping Keith hadn’t noticed due to the poor lighting. Keith had noticed. With the little energy he had, he scooted closer to the blue paladin.

Lance let out a surprised squeak when he felt the weight of arms around his neck. Keith was hugging him. Lance smiled, more tears escaping the corners of his eyes as he hugged Keith back.

“It’s good to have you back, Keith.” 

“Thanks Lance.” Keith let go of the blue paladin, ending the hug. Lance’s arms hesitantly released him, and he returned his back to the wall.

“Nobody hears about this.” Lance said firmly, wiping his nose on the back of his hand. 

“Nobody hears about this.” Keith agreed, smiling. He pulled Lance’s jacket a little tighter around himself and leaned his head back against the wall. Both exhausted, the red and blue paladins fell asleep in the hall.

###### 

Keith woke up with a horrible kink in his neck. He groaned. His whole body ached from having fallen asleep on the floor in the hall. He opened his eyes, blinking in the bright light. _What time is it?_ The castle ship had returned to its daytime settings, and the hallway was now fully lit. He yawned. He didn’t want to get up yet. He felt much better than he had a few hours ago. He definitely had much more energy. 

“Mmm…” Keith almost screamed. His brain hadn’t fully registered his surroundings, including the warm body behind him. He was currently playing the role of the little spoon. Lance was _spooning_ him. He could feel the warm puffs of Lance’s breath against his neck. Keith’s face turned just as red as his lion. _W-We fell asleep sitting up… When did this happen?_ Alarms were blaring inside Keith’s head. He scrambled away from the sleeping blue paladin. “Mm… Keith?” Lance was still half asleep, frowning at the loss of body heat. Keith just stared at him, clutching his chest. Lance was making grabby hands for the red paladin. _Quiznak…_ Keith’s heart hammered in his chest. “Keith?” he nearly had a heart attack when Lance opened his eyes. _He’s awake._

“Oh, uh, good morning… I… Uh…” Keith was panicking. _Is Lance even aware of what we were doing?_ He quickly got to his feet, thankful his legs were able to hold him this time. “I have to go see Coran now. Bye!” Keith sped off down the hallway, nearly tripping over his own feet. 

Lance sat up, groggily rubbing his eyes. _What’s his deal?_ He shrugged, getting to his feet and stretching. He watched as Keith disappeared around a corner. He had had a strange dream… _Cuddling with Keith? He’s totally not the type._ Lance snorted to himself, trying to picture it clearly. Suddenly, his brain fully woke up. He remembered Keith’s red face. _Shit. Was it a dream?_ A nervous sweat broke out across his brow. Lance nearly short circuited. _It was probably a dream._ he tried to convince himself. Lance tried to forget about it and started to make his way to the kitchen. He hoped Hunk was making breakfast.

As he sat down to eat with Hunk and Pidge, a single thought registered at the back of his mind: Keith still had his jacket on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OUR PRECIOUS BOYS ARE STARTING TO INTERACT MORE AND THEY ARE STARTING TO REALIZE THEIR FEELINGS! *cough*
> 
> Let me know what you guys think! I'm sorry if this chapter wasn't that great, I kind of rushed myself since I wanted to post it on Lance's birthday :,)
> 
> I'll try to have the next chapter up by....... August 2nd. But knowing me, it'll probably be sooner than that. GOOD NEWS: I have literally nothing to do all next week, SO I CAN GET A BUNCH OF WRITING DONE! yay!
> 
> Thanks for reading! I love you guys! STAY AWESOME :)


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROWAN! I hope you have a wonderful day! Thanks for reading! You make my heart so happy :):):)
> 
> Hey guys! I wanted to let you know, I READ ALL OF YOUR COMMENTS AND I LOVE ALL OF THEM! I would love to reply to every single one, but unfortunately, I don't have a whole lot of time for that. :( But anyways, I just wanted to tell you that I read every single one, and I appreciate every single one! You guys are awesome and inspire me to continue writing! :) 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter! I'll try to have the next one up ASAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *evil laughing*

Keith rounded a corner, not looking back. His heart felt as if it were trying to beat right out of his chest. “Quiznak-“ He had almost run right into a wall, but he slid to a stop just in time. He reached out, bracing himself against the wall with one hand, the other on his knee. He was panting. _It’s a lot harder to see my surroundings with only one eye…_

“Ah, good morning Keith. Come to see me?” Keith nearly jumped out of his boots. He stood up straight. Turning his head, he saw the older gentleman come into view. Coran had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Coran seemed to take notice. “Sorry about that, I forgot your left side is your bad side. I’ll make sure to inform everyone.” 

“R-Right… Thanks.” He hadn’t noticed Coran because he had approached him from the left. _Damn. This is going to take a while to get used to._ Keith sighed. “Anyways, you wanted to run some tests on me this morning, correct?”

“Precisely. But uh… Maybe you’d like to stop by your room and grab a change of clothes first? It looks to me like you didn’t quite make it to your own room last night.” Coran had a mischievous looking smirk on his face as he twirled his moustache with a finger.

“Wh-“ Keith was confused. And then it hit him: he was half naked, and wearing Lance’s jacket. _This is awkward...._ Keith’s face turned bright red. “N-NO! This isn’t what you think, Coran. Lance lent me his jacket for the walk back to our rooms, and w-we kind of fell asleep in the hallway. Nothing hap-"

“I know. I saw you two snuggled up like a couple of newborn yelmors earlier this morning, but I didn’t want to wake you. You both seemed to be… enjoying yourselves.” The old Altean winked at him, and it only made Keith’s face burn hotter. _Of course. Just my luck_.

“No no no, Coran, seriously. It was nothing. I don’t want you getting the wrong idea about anything.” Keith mentally kicked himself. Coran didn’t seem to be buying this.

“Right, whatever you say. It’s not my business anyways. That is, until it starts interfering with Voltron.” Keith slapped a hand to his face, exasperated. “Well then, follow me.” Coran led Keith down a few more hallways before reaching his lab. They entered, and Coran had the red paladin sit down in a strange looking chair.

“What tests are you going to be running exactly?” Keith questioned, looking nervously around at all the strange Altean tools and gadgets littering the tables and counters.

“Nothing too big. Just some more blood tests, and I’ll be scanning your head to form a 3-D model. I want to know the full extent of the damage that was done, and make sure the healing pod fully finished its process.” Coran pulled up a digital screen out of thin air and began tapping away at it. 

“Hey Coran?” Keith asked quietly.

“Hm?” Coran hummed in response, still typing on the screen.

“Will I still be able to pilot Red? You know, since… I have this disability?” he motioned to his eye. Coran stopped typing and looked Keith right in the face. 

“Of course you will. No need to worry, Keith. You just have to adapt. It may take a while to get used to the…” Coran searched for the right word. “disadvantage you now face, but with enough training, you should be the same pilot you were before all this happened.” He smiled at the red paladin and returned to typing. Keith let out a long breath. _That’s a relief._ He smiled to himself and waited as Coran finished typing. “Right then, these tests shouldn’t take too long to run. I’ll call you back in tomorrow so we can go over the results.”

“Okay, let’s get this over with.”

###### 

Lance was on his way back to his room. He needed to get changed so he could hit the training deck. Breakfast with Hunk and Pidge had been fine. Coran had informed everyone of Keith’s awakening, so they knew. Hunk had asked Lance how Keith was doing. His face had burned at the mention of Keith, his thoughts going back to earlier that morning. He had told Hunk Keith was fine, and neither Hunk nor Pidge had asked anything else, sensing he didn’t want to talk about it, which he was thankful for.

He tapped his code into the control panel by his door, and it slid open. Once he was inside, it closed behind him, enveloping him in darkness. He turned the lights in his room up, and shuffled over to his bed, sitting down heavily. _Did that really happen? Was it really real?_ His face heated back up as he revisited the happenings from only an hour ago. _No wonder Keith looked so… uncomfortable. Then he just ran off. I’ll have to talk to him later._

Lance sighed. He didn’t feel like getting up anymore. He was tired. The few hours of sleep he had gotten last night weren’t exactly enough. He flopped backwards, laying down with his legs hanging off the side of his bed. _He still has my jacket. I’ll have to stop by his room later and go pick it up from him._

He drifted to sleep, thoughts of the red paladin dancing through his mind.

###### 

Coran had finally finished running his tests. It had taken around an hour.

“This won’t take too long.” Keith mimicked the Altean as he walked back to his room. He had taken the long way, hoping to avoid everyone while he was still in the suspicious looking state of dress.

He walked fast. _I just want to go take a nice long shower, then get back into my own clothes._ It had been… a while since he had last showered. The only real bathing, if you’d call it that, was when Coran had disinfected his cuts. Trying not to think about how gross he felt, he pulled Lance’s jacked tighter around him. It was cold in space.

Arriving back at his own room, he let the doors close behind him and locked them. Keith enjoyed his privacy. He slipped Lance’s jacket off, shivering as the cold air hit him. _I’ll probably need to wash this before I give it back…_ He brought it up to his nose to test it. Keith almost immediately regretted his decision. _It still smells like Lance. Why does he smell so good? He always…_

Keith became aware of the path his thoughts were quickly going down. He tossed Lance’s jacket onto his bed next to where someone had left him a newly repaired paladin suit, and busied himself with gathering a fresh outfit. As he dug through his drawers, his vision went blurry. _What is happening?_ He reached out to grab something… anything to steady himself. It was disorienting, and he was having trouble staying on his feet.

“Shit.” He grunted as he hit the ground. _What the hell is going on?_ He was scared. _Why can’t I see?_ Keith crawled across the floor, reaching his bed. All he could see was a blur of color and light. He couldn’t make anything out. The dark twist of anxiety had returned to his chest. 

“Ugh where is it, where is it?” He strained, reaching out and feeling with his arm. “Ah! Gotcha!” he found it. His helmet. He slid it on his head, and turned the comms on. He knew someone would hear him. Hopefully.

“Guys? Guys! Uh… A little help? Anyone?” 

“Keith? What’s going on?” Thankfully, Coran had a comm on him at all times, which he usually used to communicate with the team when they were out in battle.

“I… I can’t see… anything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GOD DAMNIT KEITH WHY
> 
> WHY
> 
> WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?????? I'm sobbing. WHY DO I DO ALL OF THIS TO MY POOR POOR SON HE DOESN'T DESERVE THIS TREATMENT. :,(
> 
> He totally sniffed Lance's jacket tho *snickers* what a lovesick pup. He just doesn't realize it yet.
> 
> LANCE AND KEITH, KEITH AND LANCE. There will be a lovely plot development in the next chapter that will allow me to write more with both of them together! I CAN'T WAIT! 
> 
> Thanks for reading guys! I love you all! :)


End file.
